Abunam Sports

Face Off

Michael Jordan vs Wilt Chamberlain?

We have a burning question from one of our friends! Who was better? Wilt Chamberlain or Micheal Jordan?

For so long, I have been the casual NBA fan. I always have believed that Michael Jordan is the G.O.A.T, and Kobe is top 5 of all time. I have been doing some research, which leads me to believe differently. Have I been brainwashed by the media? Probably.

Michael Jordan is one of the best basketball players in NBA history. He had many great traits that I do not need to expound on. With that said, he is NOT the greatest player of all time. Wilt Chamberlain is the greatest player of all time, bar none.

My method for determining the greatness of a player requires speculation, but not unfounded speculation. Speculation based on presented facts.Championships are not the determining factor, because they require coaching smarts, front office genius, luck with injuries, and a break or two. I look at how complete a player is at his position, and how he can blend his talents with his teammates. If 11 player names and a coach name are randomly drawn out of a hat, how well will player X work with the team? That is my criteria. With that said, let us compare the raw statistics of the two, and the abilities to carry a team.

Now lets look at the opposing side. Chamberlain might have some amazing stats, but coming from when he played there was no one to match up on him at his size. He was not a great free throw shooter which means he is not a great around scorer. So just scoring down low a lot does not mean you are the best ever. If you are the best ever you have to do more in a lot of areas. Making close shots on a smaller defensive player makes it a lot easier to score. Now you might say Chamberlain was good at getting assists, well it doesn’t work like that, for how big he was compared to other players he would force lots of double teams or even triple teams which lead to open shots. Also consider that Chamberlain played the whole game almost every game. And yes it was a week era for Wilt Chamberlain. If you have seen how much basketball has improved in the World, you would see that the NBA had to start at that level at one point in time. And since those were the first 20 years or so they would not be as hard as today’s intense and physical game. While Jordan played in one of the Stronger era’s with Magic and Bird (Even at their older ages), David Robinson, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Reggie Miller, Patrick Ewing, Scottie Pippen and tons of other great players.

While Wilt’s era was Jerry West, Oscar Robertson, Bill Russell, Bob Pettit, Bob Cusey. Not a lot of players that were great at that time. If you think he was so great then why did he not receive more then 2 rings? One with being with Jerry West and the Lakers. For a guy to average 50 and 25 a game then why did he not win lots of Championships? Like Bill Russell. He had a good team but for someone to average twice as good numbers as Bill Russell should be able to get more then 2 rings. Which leads me to believe that Jordan is the best NBA player ever because of his consistency to be able to make the Finals and win every time.